Bruce Pearl discusses what Coach K's career has meant to college basketball

As Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski gets ready for retirement after the NCAA Tournament, tributes are pouring in. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl weighed in this week and discussed what Coach K’s career has meant to college basketball — and the game of basketball in general.

Pearl, speaking in his pre-tournament press conference this week, spoke highly of what Krzyzewski has done during his decorated career not just at Duke, but with USA Basketball. He even went so far as to compare the Blue Devils legend to another iconic college basketball figure: Dick Vitale.

“What he’s done as an Olympian, representing our country, winning gold, what he’s meant to all the coaches that have looked up to him doing it the right way, all the assistants that have gone on and been great teachers and mentors themselves,” Pearl said. “It’s kind of like Dick Vitale and what he did to college basketball in his position is akin to what Coach K has done as a leader of our coaching profession. And he’s done it with dignity. He’s done it with class. He’s done it his way.

“He is competitive. He is tough. He’s fierce. That’s how he grew up. That’s how he worked his way through the Army and through the ranks. He’s never tried to be somebody he wasn’t. And I respect him for that.”

Jim Boeheim shares what Coach K means to him, college basketball

The Duke Blue Devils ended Syracuse‘s season March 9 in the second round of the ACC Tournament with an 88-79 victory. With the loss, Orange headman Jim Boeheim will never lead the charge against Coach K again due to his impending retirement.

That said, he knows the one place he wants to see Krzyzewski again.

“We’ll have dinner together in the future. That’s the only time I want to see him,” Boeheim joked after the loss.

The two legends have a great relationship, which was highlighted when Krzyzewski called in to Boeheim’s radio show last month. He called in as “Mike from Durham,” who said he’s a lifelong fan of the Syracuse coach.

“I’ve been a fan of Coach Boeheim’s for almost five decades,” Krzyzewski said on the radio show. “I’m going to have a chance to watch the Syracuse-Duke game this weekend, and I was wondering if there was an opportunity to meet him and maybe get an autograph and picture.”

That was for Duke’s road game against the Orange, where the Blue Devils ultimately defeated Syracuse handily 97-72 in Coach K’s final trip to the Carrier Dome, which is college basketball’s largest arena.